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On the Third Anniversary of the Durbin Amendment, 94% of Consumers Not Seeing the Savings Retailers Promised Them
WASHINGTON, DC – October 1, 2014, marks the third anniversary of the implementation of the Durbin amendment, a piece of legislation that was masked as reform, but was nothing more than an $8 billion annual windfall for retailers. While retailers promised they would pass along savings to consumers – savings that now amount to over $24 billion for retailers – a new survey shows that 94% of consumers have seen prices that have increased or remained the same over the past three years. This survey, conducted in September 2014 by Phoenix Marketing International and sponsored by the Electronic Payments Coalition, asked 3,400 consumers about price changes they have observed at a variety of retailers. The research shows that 94% of consumers have seen prices increase or remain the same in the 16 individual point-of-sale categories measured in the survey, and a majority of consumers have seen prices increase at pharmacies, home improvement stores, supermarkets, restaurants and gas stations, among other industries. Furthermore, some 16% of consumers report that some retailers are even imposing surcharges on debit purchases. “These survey results clearly demonstrate that most consumers have not experienced lower prices at the register, which was the consumer promise of the
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